Returned the M1 MacBook Pro - 1st generation not ready

[gv23]

I've been working in cybersecurity for 21 years and a pro Mac user since 2003 (17" Powerbook - PowerPC G4).

Current machine is 32GB 13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports with 2TB disk and 2.3GHz Quad core i7 - it's a maxed out 13".

I read all the reviews on the new MacBook Pro M1 and have been hesitating since it's release. 2 weeks ago after WWDC read that the next MacBook Pros will likely be released in Q3/Q3 2021.

Unlike all previous Macs I've bought, I waited for the 2nd iteration of a new generation of the product, thought to try out the M1 with 16GB ram and 2TB disk for work.

My experience in the 2 weeks:
- It doesn't feel right - It's a Pro with the same chip as my 2021 iPad 11" and MacBook Air. It just doesn't feel like a pro device and different to the others in the product line.
- The performance is OK - but there's still delays and drag when you push the laptop and when using a 2nd screen.
- Was disappointed that you can only connect 1 external monitor (have 2 4k LGs) and have the Apple XDR arriving next week. I work with 2 external monitors and the laptop screen.
- fans were not used as much (only time was when photos was doing some machine learning to sort out the albums, faces, objects etc)
- read all the reviews of photo/video encoding improvements etc - I don't use the Mac for that in security.
- Only has 2 thunderbolt/usbc ports - I use the external monitor (only 1 now), usbc security keys (ubikey) and other inputs - now can't with only 2 ports. I need 4.
- 16GB ram is not enough for pro users, I was already hitting limits when you've been working with 32GB in my field.
- I remember when we migrated from PPC to Intel and Rosetta was used for universal binaries - took about 2 years to get there. This time migrating from x86 to ARM has to go through the same process. The current generation of apps just haven't had time to be recompiled to be M1 (ARM) native yet. So you're relying on emulation which is always going to be slower than actual hardware
- Hardware fault on the last day - quality wasn't right for me - the screen just developed a large (2cm) vertical line on the right 1/3 side of the screen and the lower horizontal edge of the screen developed about 15 horizontal rows of flickering pixels. That was the last straw and was the decision to return it with the experience I had. Thankfully it happened on the last day to return it under the 14 day return policy.

For me, the 2020 maxed out 13" Pro is a pro machine and suites my needs with native x86 applications for now. I will wait until the M1X or M2:
- differentiate the product line from the iPad and MacBook Air
- hopefully have a new body
- for the new M1X/M2 cpu to provide the Pro feel and experience
- for apps to have time to be recompiled to ARM by then.

For now, will wait until Q3/Q4 to see what apple has up its sleeves!

 

[Puonti]

Sounds like you arrived at a valid conclusion with hands-on experience of your specific computational needs on the device, which is just about the best possible situation to be in (the best situation would of course be if the device had also met your needs).

In other words - ignoring the variety of needs and use cases different people have - the low-end 13" Apple silicon MacBook Pro was not intended to and does not try to replace a high-end 13" Intel MacBook Pro. The high-end 13" Apple silicon MacBook Pro intends to do that, but of course it needs to be released first before it gets a chance to do that.

 

[Gregintosh]

Its not so much as problems with 1st generation but problems with it being a lower end unit. Its at the bottom of the "Pro" product line and you sound like a user who needs the highest end. Good choice on returning it, and sticking to the high end of the product line.

The hype around the M1 speed and efficiency has gotten a lot of people who are used to highest end units to give the M1 a try with mixed results. For some it isn't enough, like yourself, but many still find that it fills their needs perfectly so they're able to have a great computer at half the price they are used to spending.

As far as differentiating from the iPad, I am not sure why that's so important. I look at it as the iPad getting a very capable and powerful chip, not so much as the MacBook Pro getting a low power iPad chip. I don't care if they put the M1 in watches or microwaves, I am perfectly happy with its performance on my computer and it appearing in other devices doesn't take away from the experience.

Objectively speaking, for single core performance and even dual core performance it does outperform most chips on the market that came before it and many since (or comes close). From a benchmark perspective it is one of the better chips you can get, perhaps the best for single core tasks -- but yes, not the "best" at least when it comes to multicore.

 

[Paulo Henrique Baldassi]

I just don't understand one question, your macbook pro 13 intel is it more powerful than the pro m1? This to me is new, but interesting. I had a 2018 15" with the Radeon Pro 560X and it still lags behind my base model Air in several factors.

 

[senttoschool]

The 13" M1 Macbook Pro is really just an Air with a touchbar and longer battery life. You already own the M1 Air. I think your expectations were too high.

Wait for the redesigns.

 

[thunng8]

I've been working in cybersecurity for 21 years and a pro Mac user since 2003 (17" Powerbook - PowerPC G4).

Current machine is 32GB 13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports with 2TB disk and 2.3GHz Quad core i7 - it's a maxed out 13".

I read all the reviews on the new MacBook Pro M1 and have been hesitating since it's release. 2 weeks ago after WWDC read that the next MacBook Pros will likely be released in Q3/Q3 2021.

Unlike all previous Macs I've bought, I waited for the 2nd iteration of a new generation of the product, thought to try out the M1 with 16GB ram and 2TB disk for work.

My experience in the 2 weeks:
- It doesn't feel right - It's a Pro with the same chip as my 2021 iPad 11" and MacBook Air. It just doesn't feel like a pro device and different to the others in the product line.
- The performance is OK - but there's still delays and drag when you push the laptop and when using a 2nd screen.
- Was disappointed that you can only connect 1 external monitor (have 2 4k LGs) and have the Apple XDR arriving next week. I work with 2 external monitors and the laptop screen.
- fans were not used as much (only time was when photos was doing some machine learning to sort out the albums, faces, objects etc)
- read all the reviews of photo/video encoding improvements etc - I don't use the Mac for that in security.
- Only has 2 thunderbolt/usbc ports - I use the external monitor (only 1 now), usbc security keys (ubikey) and other inputs - now can't with only 2 ports. I need 4.
- 16GB ram is not enough for pro users, I was already hitting limits when you've been working with 32GB in my field.
- I remember when we migrated from PPC to Intel and Rosetta was used for universal binaries - took about 2 years to get there. This time migrating from x86 to ARM has to go through the same process. The current generation of apps just haven't had time to be recompiled to be M1 (ARM) native yet. So you're relying on emulation which is always going to be slower than actual hardware
- Hardware fault on the last day - quality wasn't right for me - the screen just developed a large (2cm) vertical line on the right 1/3 side of the screen and the lower horizontal edge of the screen developed about 15 horizontal rows of flickering pixels. That was the last straw and was the decision to return it with the experience I had. Thankfully it happened on the last day to return it under the 14 day return policy.

For me, the 2020 maxed out 13" Pro is a pro machine and suites my needs with native x86 applications for now. I will wait until the M1X or M2:
- differentiate the product line from the iPad and MacBook Air
- hopefully have a new body
- for the new M1X/M2 cpu to provide the Pro feel and experience
- for apps to have time to be recompiled to ARM by then.

For now, will wait until Q3/Q4 to see what apple has up its sleeves!

My experience is a lot different from yours. My m1 runs circles around the high end 13 inch 2020 MacBook Pro. In many cases it was 3x faster. Absolutely nothing was slower. Graphic was multiple times faster as well.

I guess it depends on what software you use. All of mine have been recompiled to native already.

 

[spesifikbrush]

I switched from a Ryzen 3 3200u (2c 4t), 12GB RAM Windows computer to the M1 Air. The difference is so much. It's the BEST computer I owned in my life.

But as everyone is saying, this is the low end. BUT, it is a new standard for low end Macs, which is so much more high end than the late Intel models, for most people at least. If the bar is set this high for the low end, you can just imagine how high it'll get for the high end.

 

[Significant1]

All I hear, is that M1 isn't available in the specs you need/want and compares it with the top Intel version (still available) instead of the entry model it replaces. I don't see that as anything to do with 1st generation, but more about that the top model configuration you need/want has not been introduced.

I think macOS stability has been the bigger problem and therefore a good thing for Apple to let it mature, by targeting entry level audience and not introduce to many hardware variables to master.

 

[pshufd]

Your observations were what I concluded reading this forum and then I ordered an M1 mini and it arrived yesterday and I set it up. I have a big Windows desktop (i7-10700, 128 GB RAM, dual GPUs, 5 TB SSD, huge heatsink, six fans, runs really cool) and I run my production stuff on the Windows desktop and my office stuff on the M1 Mini. And this combination works well. I have 3x4K monitors and an additional QHD with two monitors on the Windows desktop and two on the Mac mini and this is working really well.

I really wanted an M1X system but I also wanted macOS as well. So I ordered the mini and it has worked out more or less as I expected it to. I think that I could actually run two Mac minis and divide up the workload and call the minis an M1X. But it still wouldn't work for large memory workloads.

The monkey wrench is the waiting. I feel that they wanted to launch the M1X systems at WWDC but supply chain concerns halted that. It's just a waiting game right now. I'm going to use my 2015 MacBook Pro 15 when I'm mobile. I really want something larger than a 13 inch screen. My daughter has the M1 Air and she loves it but I'm used to 15 and 17 inch laptops.

 

[CheesePuff]

Unfortunately back in 2016 Apple decided to slap the Pro name on the new 13" with no Touch Bar, which had inferior CPU and GPU, inferior cooling, inferior speakers and mic, and lack of ports compared to the higher end 13" but on the surface (besides the ports) they looked identical.

That continued into 2018 and made it even worse when they added the Touch Bar so they all looked the same now across the board.

That is the model you purchased, which still says Pro but is inferior in many ways compared to the Intel model you have.

 

[vs40]

Most of your issues were well known right after first reviews and I don't understand, why you bought laptop, which not covers all your needs?

It doesn't feel right - It's a Pro with the same chip as my 2021 iPad 11" and MacBook Air. It just doesn't feel like a pro device and different to the others in the product line.

Completely subjective stuff.
If if works fine, they can put the same chip in everything from Watch to Mac Pro.

The performance is OK - but there's still delays and drag when you push the laptop and when using a 2nd screen.

I'm using my Air with external 4K display and never experienced any delays with dragging.

Was disappointed that you can only connect 1 external monitor (have 2 4k LGs) and have the Apple XDR arriving next week. I work with 2 external monitors and the laptop screen.

It was mentioned in almost every review right after release and in dedicated article from Apple

Connect a display to your Mac - Apple Support

Mac computers support one or more external displays, depending on the Mac model. Here's how to connect an external display.

support.apple.com

fans were not used as much (only time was when photos was doing some machine learning to sort out the albums, faces, objects etc)

Is it complain or what?
If your fan not used, then you not using full CPU potential.

Only has 2 thunderbolt/usbc ports - I use the external monitor (only 1 now), usbc security keys (ubikey) and other inputs - now can't with only 2 ports. I need 4.

It is like buying 2 door car and complaining about lack of 4 doors...

16GB ram is not enough for pro users, I was already hitting limits when you've been working with 32GB in my field.

Same thing.
16GB limitations was well know right after release.

I remember when we migrated from PPC to Intel and Rosetta was used for universal binaries - took about 2 years to get there. This time migrating from x86 to ARM has to go through the same process. The current generation of apps just haven't had time to be recompiled to be M1 (ARM) native yet. So you're relying on emulation which is always going to be slower than actual hardware

It is why we have threads like this:

Universal and Native Apple Silicon Apps

Moderator Note: Please note you need 20 posts before you will be able to edit the wiki. --------------------- Wiki to document universal and native Apple silicon apps as they are released. Currently, IsAppleSiliconReady.com has the most comprehensive database. Another tracking site that's...

forums.macrumors.com

You can check, if software, you using, is compatible with M1, before buying it.

Hardware fault on the last day - quality wasn't right for me - the screen just developed a large (2cm) vertical line on the right 1/3 side of the screen and the lower horizontal edge of the screen developed about 15 horizontal rows of flickering pixels.

Only real complain in whole text.
But this type of failures could happen with any modern device.

 

[Asbow]

Personally I think Apple really need to simplify their product lineup.

MacBook Air: Ultrabook
MacBook 13/iBook: Standard Laptop
MacBook Pro: High-end.

The 13” has never been a professional machine in my opinion.

 

[senttoschool]

Most of your issues were well known right after first reviews and I don't understand, why you bought laptop, which not covers all your needs?

This. I don't understand why the OP bought the laptop when everything he complained about should have been known to him before. He even has an M1 Macbook Air which essentially performs the same as the 13" Pro.

It's a waste of resources and added carbon from the OP in my opinion.

 

[Apple_Robert]

As someone who made a point to state you have 21 years of Cybersecurity experience, it looks like you didn’t do any research before purchase. That computer could have gone to someone who knew what they were doing. Now, you made Apple have to sell it as a refurbished.

The “pro” moniker in the name of the device is meaningless outside of differentiating it from other Macs. There is no such thing as a pro user. However, there are Mac users with different needs.

 

[pshufd]

As someone who made a point to state you have 21 years of Cybersecurity experience, it looks like you didn’t do any research before purchase. That computer could have gone to someone who knew what they were doing. Now, you made Apple have to sell it as a refurbished.

The “pro” moniker in the name of the device is meaningless outside of differentiating it from other Macs. There is no such thing as a pro user. However, there are Mac users with different needs.

Part of the reason for these forums is so that you can check out devices before you buy them. And you can read the experiences of other people so that you know what to expect and also share fixes for problems that you run into.

We have this thread with probably 5,000 posts on it debating 8 GB vs 16 GB. Surely a thread like that would tell you that lots of people think that the M1s don't come with enough RAM. Or long threads on Bluetooth, SWAP writes, monitor issues, etc.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Part of the reason for these forums is so that you can check out devices before you buy them. And you can read the experiences of other people so that you know what to expect and also share fixes for problems that you run into.

We have this thread with probably 5,000 posts on it debating 8 GB vs 16 GB. Surely a thread like that would tell you that lots of people think that the M1s don't come with enough RAM. Or long threads on Bluetooth, SWAP writes, monitor issues, etc.

I agree. This forum, unlike a lot of YouTube, is an excellent resource for hands on experience and reviews, even though one may have to wade through some blind Apple loyalty hyperbole at times.

 

[Serban55]

My experience in the 2 weeks:
- It doesn't feel right - It's a Pro with the same chip as my 2021 iPad 11" and MacBook Air. It just doesn't feel like a pro device and different to the others in the product line.

you didnt felt right to have the same power as the other devices?
So if the ipad pro will get the most powerful cpu on the market for example it will not feel you right to have a Mbp that has the same cpu?

- Was disappointed that you can only connect 1 external monitor (have 2 4k LGs) and have the Apple XDR arriving next week. I work with 2 external monitors and the laptop screen.

EVERYBODY knew that right from the start, everybody but you...and you call yourself a mac user for decades.

 

[mj_]

Not one of your complaints has anything to do with this being a first generation model ?‍♂️

 

[smirking]

- The performance is OK - but there's still delays and drag when you push the laptop and when using a 2nd screen.

I test drove an M1 MBP. I had a few slightly laggy encounters when using an external display, but I wouldn't attribute that to the computer being under-powered. I attribute it to software glitches yet to be ironed out because the situations where I had hiccups were so specific and unexpected given how well it was performing everywhere else.

Really, I found the performance to be everything that was advertised and very impressive especially for a first gen machine.

 

[pshufd]

I test drove an M1 MBP. I had a few slightly laggy encounters when using an external display, but I wouldn't attribute that to the computer being under-powered. I attribute it to software glitches yet to be ironed out because the situations where I had hiccups were so specific and unexpected given how well it was performing everywhere else.

Really, I found the performance to be everything that was advertised and very impressive especially for a first gen machine.

I have seen no lag issues and I'm running a 4K and a QHD monitor off the Mini. I'm not pushing the system though. There's a thread on fan control programs and someone posted on (TG Pro) and it shows detailed thermals and it's remarkable how little power this uses and how cool it runs. That's a big selling point for me.

 

[Serban55]

Hardware fault on the last day - quality wasn't right for me - the screen just developed a large (2cm) vertical line on the right 1/3 side of the screen and the lower horizontal edge of the screen developed about 15 horizontal rows of flickering pixels. That was the last straw and was the decision to return it with the experience I had. Thankfully it happened on the last day to return it under the 14 day return policy.

Thats the reason you return it in fact, because the rest of your "issues" you already knew about them before buying the product
So nothing to do with being first gen product
This topic can be closed

 

[thadoggfather]

at a cursory glance, all seem subjectively valid except 'fan not being used much' - the M1 isn't a thermal consumption dog like x86 that's a pro not a con.

And screen issues seem independent of architecture overhaul (physical defects, like a screen running down the display )

Might as well wait if that's your thing, but I love my base M1 Air I got for $899 in December

Quantum leap from i5 quad core 2020 Air I had, and quantum leap from i5 2016 no Touch Bar Pro I still have

 

[GuilleA]

All of your complaints about the M1 were obvious before buying it. You should have known the limitations beforehand. In my experience, I feel like I've upgraded from my 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro to an M1 Air (8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM)

 

[MauiPa]

"I remember when we migrated from PPC to Intel and Rosetta was used for universal binaries - took about 2 years to get there." irrelevant, that was a long time ago

"This time migrating from x86 to ARM has to go through the same process." Not true many applications are already recompiled - because it is just so easy to do with Xcode.

"The current generation of apps just haven't had time to be recompiled to be M1 (ARM) native yet. So you're relying on emulation which is always going to be slower than actual hardware". Perhaps some do, but there are a heck of a lot of applications that have been recompiled and optimized for M1. So again, not true. But it may be true for specific applications which you use, a problem made when we make over generalizations. So I don't doubt that you may have some specific instances where applications you use have not been re-compiled (Would be great to know which ones), as I said a heck of a lot of them have already been optimized for m1

 

[pshufd]

"I remember when we migrated from PPC to Intel and Rosetta was used for universal binaries - took about 2 years to get there." irrelevant, that was a long time ago

"This time migrating from x86 to ARM has to go through the same process." Not true many applications are already recompiled - because it is just so easy to do with Xcode.

"The current generation of apps just haven't had time to be recompiled to be M1 (ARM) native yet. So you're relying on emulation which is always going to be slower than actual hardware". Perhaps some do, but there are a heck of a lot of applications that have been recompiled and optimized for M1. So again, not true. But it may be true for specific applications which you use, a problem made when we make over generalizations. So I don't doubt that you may have some specific instances where applications you use have not been re-compiled (Would be great to know which ones), as I said a heck of a lot of them have already been optimized for m1

I have three programs that are still Intel: Synergy, Growly Notes and TurboTax 2020. Synergy is a very lightweight program so there's no impact. I have not noticed an impact with Growly Notes. I have noticed an impact with TurboTax but TurboTax is a huge program, mainly because they have to support six or seven years of their previous programs. TurboTax is a bit of a dog on M1.

One other program that I use that doesn't run well on M1 is Fidelity Active Trader Pro. It's a native Windows program written on a platform from the 1990s and runs on macOS Intel through WINE. It will run on the M1 but you're doing API translation through WINE and x64 translation through Rosetta 2 and that's a lot of overhead.

My son's work-issued laptop has a bulging battery and they're trying to figure out what to replace it with. They looked at M1 but their process runs x64 and a lot of the scientific tools that they use don't run on M1 yet and may take years to get built and certified. He will likely get a 16 inch Intel MacBook Pro. My suggestion was that they just replace the battery on his 2015 MacBook Pro 15. He has to run Windows from time to time and always requires a Linux Virtual Machine to be running. At least he can get the Intel 16 inch MacBook Pro with 32 GB of RAM.